HIGH SCHOOL COMPUTER SCIENCE; REQUIRE H.B. 5649 (H-1):
SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
House Bill 5649 (Substitute H-1 as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Carol Glanville
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Revised School Code to require each public high school in the State to offer at least one computer science course that met certain requirements, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year.
Specifically, each public high school would have to offer at least one computer science course to pupils enrolled in the public high school, as determined by the school district, intermediate school district (ISD), or public school academy (PSA). "Public high school" would mean a public school that offers at least one of grades 9 to 12. "Computer science" would mean the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, hardware and software designs, implementation, and impact on society, and is a study that focuses on teaching students how to create new technologies and not solely the use of technology.
A required computer science course would have to meet the following criteria:
-- Meet or exceed standards established by the State Board of Education (see BACKGROUND).
-- Be listed as an option on the school s catalog of courses, as determined by the school district, ISD, or PSA.
Additionally, the bill would require a public high school to make a good-faith effort to offer the course in an in-person setting, unless the public high school operated entirely virtually. If holding an in-person computer science class were not feasible, the bill would allow a public school to offer the course through a virtual or distance-based option.
BACKGROUND
In 2018, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) developed a taskforce of diverse stakeholders to draft K-12 Computer Science (CS) Standards. The taskforce studied the K-12 CS Framework, the product of a national cross-sector collaboration adopted by many other states, and the standards developed by the Computer Science Teachers Association. The taskforce incorporated both sets of standards into its own draft, which was submitted to the State Board of Education for public comment and adopted by the Board in 2019.
The Board s 3A standards, intended for students in Grade 9 and Grade 10, capitalize on prior computer science education. Generally, they are intended to ensure students understand computing systems, networks and cybersecurity, data collection and analysis, programming and algorithms, and the impacts of computing, such as its ethical and legal implications. The
Board s 3B standards are intended for students in Grade 11 and Grade 12 who wish to pursue computer science specialization based on personal interest.[1]
Legislative Analyst: Abby Schneider
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the State and would have a negative fiscal impact on some districts, PSAs, and ISDs. Districts, PSAs and ISDs that do not currently have a qualifying computer science course would have increased costs to implement a program. The cost to a given district, PSA, or ISD would depend on its characteristics and whether it implemented an in-person or remote course.
It is not known exactly how many high schools do not currently offer a qualifying course, but the Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) notes that of the 1,265 high schools that reported students in the Michigan Student Data System Teacher Student Data Link Collection in the 2022-2023 school year, 864 high schools (68%) had students who took at least one computer science related course and 401 high schools (32%) did not report any students taking computer science related courses. According to CEPI, these counts should be considered a rough approximation, since they are produced using a methodology that considers school course classification codes and key words in course names.
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the MDE.
Cory Savino, PhD
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
[1] For more information, see Michigan K-12 Standards: Computer Science Descriptive Statements, which can be found on the MDE s website: https://www.michigan.gov/mde/.
SAS\S2324\s5649sa
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.